Direct reading clock



April 23, 1935.

a. w. JANSON v DIRECT READING CLOCK Filed March 12, 1951 7 Sheets-Sheet3 INVENTOR G. W. JANSON BY A'ITORNEY 7 SheetsSheet April 23, G w JANSONDIRECT READING CLOCK Filed March 12; 1951 N o: m o M B s M m 11 E IN i,-MM 1 w ww @9 w: G m: 0:? m: Nv #9 m9 #9 I W n WE F l I Y 1|.I'IH1 E in!ha I m @Q 5 v on 0 Q N3 N9 W 8 A mm @Q i. 1 m9 m3 m1 Q Y 1 1| 51 m m i1m Q1 09 E Q: 1 V1111; L 1 11! mm mm. M! x F. 09 v n on. on. 1 H o: 3191Q: 5 m: |m H x l 1 m: L .n 411 IL I om; 8 I l 21 mm 8 II l at n: v.9 n6. R

A nl 23, 1935. s. w. JANSON 1,998,763

DIRECT READING CLOCK- Filed March 12, 1951 7 Sheets-Shee t e ciw. JANSON7 April 23, 1935. G. w. JANSON 1,998,753

DIRECT READING CLOCK Filed March 12, 1931 v 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Svwvnboz Ic. w. JANSON Patented Apr. 23, 1935 r UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEDIRECT'READING I George W. Janson, Nutley, N. J., assignor to TheWestern Union Telegraph Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewYork Application March 12, 1931, Serial No. 522,057

10 Claims. (c1. 58-125) This invention relates to a time indicatingaption by the motor causes the stored energy to acparatus of the type inwhich figures representtuate the carriers at the proper moment. ing thehours, minutes, and fractions-of-minutes The release mechanism for thetens-of-minutes are arranged upon endless carriers, operated in andfractions-of-minutes carriers are preferably proper timed relation, togive a direct reading. independently controlled directly from the sourceIt has been proposed heretofore to employ time of power, and themovement of the hour and minindicating devices of this nature, in whichthe ute carriers controlled from the movement of the figures are carriedupon an endless belt or drum. tens-of-minutes and fractions-of-minutescar- Thesedevices have usually required a separate s. p ysource of powerfor each carrier, the carriers be- It W l appe we om h following 10 ingreleased for movement by an escapement detailed description of apreferred embodiment mechanism controlled by the carrier representof theinvention that other arrangements may be ing the shortest unit of time.Where a single e p y source of power is used, the carrier representingIn O d a t v ntio y b more fully the shortest unit of time, as theminute carrier, understood. reference w be d o the a 15 at the end ofeach longer unit of time, operates D y drawings in which: the nexthigher carrier, as the tens-oi-minutes Figure 1 15 a front i Of theClock casing and carrier, which in turn operates the hour carrier. ts, wth t closure member in p P This type is not well adapted, however, forlarge tiOn;

clocks since the power required for the simulta- Figure? is VertieelSeetiflhel View on the line 20 neous operation of the hour,tens-of-minutes and of Figure minute carriers, at the beginning of eachhour, is Figure 3 is a herizohtai Sectional View On t considerable andmust be present at all times. line of ure The excess power, when onlythe minute carrier is gure 4 is a front elevation. P y in Section,

operated, has a tendency to render the clock 01 the time indicatingmechanism; 25 mechanism noisy. Moreover, operation by an Figure 5 is avertical sectional view of the fracelectric motor not. b economicallyaccomtions-df-minutes carrier. taken on the line 55 plished since theload on the motor is not uniof i e form but dependent upon the number ofcarriers Figure 6 s an ed front eleva ion partly operating at anyparticular instant. in section of the fractions-of-minutes drum with 30The present invention has for one of its obthe belt removed and theOperating mechanism iects to provide a direct reading clockemploytherefor; ing a plurality of endless carriers driven by a sin-Figure i5 8 Similar View Of the gle motor, in which the load onthedriving motor n s drum, w the belt v d s is substantially uniform atall tiines. in the Operating mechanism for the minute, 35

Another object is to provide a timeindicating tens'of'minutes and hourdrums; device using a plurality of separate carriers in Figure 8 i8Sectional w On he line 8-I which the carriers may be quickly andconvenientof Figure 4, Showing the means e as g the ly set at thecorrect time while maintaining the minutes drum for move 4 properrelative positions of the individual'oper- Figure 9 is e Sectional View0D e lin 9-8. o

ating mechanisms of the carriers. Figure Other objects and advantages ofthe invention gure 10 is a sectional viewv on the line Ill0 willhereinafter appear, g of Figure 7, showing the release mechanism for Inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the tens-of-mihutes myinvention I employ a plurality of endless car- Figure 11 s' o al view onthe line ll- 45 riers representative of hours, tens-of-minutes, ofFigure 7, sh the Power st ra d ce for minutes and fractions-of-minutes,the carriers the tens-of-minutes carrier; having suitable figures.thereon and operating by Fi ure 12 is a sectional view on the line II-Hpredetermined movement from a continuously op- 01 Figure showing thepower storage device for crating, uniform speed motor. The energy rethefractions-of-minutes drum; 50

' quired for operating each carrier-is stored in a Figure 13 is asectional view on the line l3'-il spring or equivalent memberbetweentheintervals of Figure 6, illustrating the release mechanism ofmovement,. whereby the load on the driving for the fractions-of-minutesdrum; motor is uniformly distributed in point of time. Figure 14 is asectional view on the line 14- Release mechanism driven in proper timedrelaof Figure 6; and 55 carriestheflguresltoi.

Figure 15 is a sectional view on the line lS-lli of Figure 7.

Referring first to Figure 1, the time indicating device is showncontained within a suitable casing 20 having a hingedclosure'member 2|,illustrated in the open position and provided with a transparent centralzone or window 22 through which a restricted view of the interior may behad. The time mechanismis supported upon an irregular shaped casting 23adJustably secured to the rear wall I I of the casing (Figure 2) bybolts 2!.

Four driving drums 2', 21,28 and 2| (Figure 4) are mounted at the upperside of the casting, and four corresponding idler drums 3|, ll, 32 and33 are mounted in forked brackets 34, having offset lugs 3i adjustablysecured to the flat faces It at the lower side of the casting by boltsor other suitable fastening members 31. Endless belts II, II, ll and 4|pass about eachpair of drums and are arranged to be driven from theupper drums by plus I! disposed around the periphery of the drivingdrums and engaging in perforations 43 in the belts. Corresponding pins44 extending from the face of the idler drums also engage in theperforations in the belt. The hours belt ll is provided with the Figures1 to 12, the tens-ofminutes belt 3! is of the same length and isprovided with two sets of characters I to 5. The minutes andfractions-of-minutes belts l0 and M respectively, are of shorter lengthand each The window 22 is of such width as to expose only a singlehorizontal row of figures therethrough, representing the time in hours,minutes and tenths-of-minutes.

An opaque shield ll carried from the casting by avbracket 48 extendsback of each of the belts transversely across the casing. adjacent thewindowfi andblocksoutthespacebetween the adjacent belts. Y Y

A non-self-starting. synchronousmotor 41 is shown for operating the timeindicating mechanism. A thumb knob ll, conveniently located between theminutes and fractions-of-minutes drums, serves for bringing the motor upto speed. The shield 4! is cut away to give access to the starting knob.The motor may operate on the regular sixty cycle alternating currentpower supply or it may be operated by a master clock. Anyv othersuitable driving arrangement may be employed. as for instance, a springmotor controlled by an escapement mechanism.

The motor shaft ll passes through a gear housing 50 formed in thecasting, and has a worm 5| meshingwith a gear I! shaft 53 hearing in thelower wall of gear housing 50 and the upper wall of a similar gearhousing 8|. A worm I formed on the upper end of the shaft l3 meshes witha gear I6, within the housing 4. The gear SI is-loosely-mounted upon ashaft 51 arid is provided with a sleeve member 58 passing through a wallof the gear housing and having a ratchet wheel I! fixed to the outer endthereof.

A knurled wheaHl is secured to the shaft 51, as by a pin 8| and'has apawl 82 mounted thereon and normally held in engagement with one of theteeth of the ratchet wheel 59 by a coiled spring 63, whereby the shaft87 is continuously rotated by the electric motor I! through the ratchetand pawl. The shaft "may be manually rotated in a forward directionindependently of the motor, however, through the knurled wheel I. Theshaft '1 extends to ,the right through the wall of the gear housing 54,into the interior of the fractions-of-minutes drum 29 and to the leftthrough the minute drum 18.

The fraction-of-minutes drum 29 is carried by a central flanged disc 64,the hub 65 of which is loosely mounted upon the end of the shaft 51. Aspring housing 66 is fastened to the web of the disc 64, by means ofscrew 81 and a housing in the form of a flanged disc BI is secured tothe spring housing, as by screws l0.

The end of the shaft 81 within the spring housing 86 is slotted at 10and the inner end of a spiral spring H is anchored therein, the outerend of the spring being secured to a pin 12 mounted in the wall of thehousing.

An eccentric I3, keyed at ll to the shaft [1, is disposed within theflanged disc .88. A collar II, surrounding the eccentric, has a radialextension I8 projecting through a recess 11, in the flange of the disc88, the outwardly projecting end having a lateral extension or stop armll, overlying the periphery of a circular plate It having three equallyspaced shoulders 80. The plate 1! is secured to the gear housing N byscrews II.

The stop arm I8 is normally retracted by the eccentric II and heldagainst one of the stop shoulders 8|, thus retaining the flanged disc 68against rotation, by engagement of the radial extension 16 with theflange of the disc. Since the drum 2! is rigidly secured to the disc 68,it is also held stationary. As the shaft I1 continues to rotate, tensionis applied in the spring H and at the end of each third of a revolutionof the shaft, the eccentric 13 moves the stop arm outwardly beyond theshoulder ll, releasing the same and permitting it to be rotated a thirdof a revolution about the eccentric, by the spring I I, whereupon it isretracted by the eccentric so as to engage the succeeding shoulder ll.Drum 20 moves with the arm It and accordingly is advanced onethird of arevolution. Each step of the drum II of one-third of a revolutionadvances a new figure into view;

For convenience the fraction-of-minutes belt is divided intotenths-of-minutes, thereby requiringthe drum 2! tobe operatedinsixsecond intervals. The load on the motor, however, is uniformthroughout the entire period, the shaft II being geared to rotatecontinuously at the rate of 3%, revolutions per minute.

The minute drum" isactuatedbyasimilar spiral spring. 84 (Figure 7),tensioned at a uniform rate by the shaft 51, as will more fully appearhereinafter. The minute drum is released for movement under the'drivingforce of the spring 84, at the proper'intervals, in accordance with themovement of the fraction-of-minutes drum 2!. For this purpose the hub 65is fixed by and bearing upon a pin l1 threaded in the side plate 08 ofthe main casting. A gear 88 pinned at 8| to the shaft 88,-meshes with agear II carried on a stub shaft 02, which in turn n a es with a gear I!fixed on the shaft ll, extending parallel to the shaft I1 and iournaledin bearings 95 and 06 in the casting. A driving wheel II, of a geneva.is pinned at II to the opposite end of the shaft 84 and is provided withthree driving pins 99 (see Figure 8), enga in the six-armed Maltesecross member llli. The cross member is secured by pin ill to a shaft I02to which is also secured the driving wheel I", of a second geneva. Thedisc III has two driving pins IN disposed adjacent to each other andarranged to engage the slots of the cross member I". This latter memberis fixed to a sleeve Ill, loosely mounted upon the shaft 51 and to whichthe drum 25 is rigidly secured through the central web I01 (Figure 4).

The shaft 04 is geared to rotate at two revolutions per minute, thusadvancing .the Geneva driving wheel I03 at the rate of one revolutionper minute, in an intermittent manner. The Maltese cross member I05 isnormally locked against movement by the cylindrical face of the lockingdisc I08 which is integral with and a part of the driving wheel I03 andthe relative position of the driving pins 83 and I04 is such that thelatter pins are moved successively into slots of the driven cross memberI05 during the last step of the drum 20, at the end of the minuteinterval, thereby releasing the drum 28 for movement, primarily underthe tension of the spring 54 to ad-' vance a new figure on the minutesbelt into position behind the window 22.

Referring to Figure 7 it will be seen that the left end of the shaft 51isjournaled in a plate I I mounteg upon the main casting. A series ofgear teeth II 51 and mesh with a gear I I2, secured to the short shaftH3, to which is also secureda pinion II4, meshing with a large gear II5.fixed to a drum operating shaft I I5, through the sleeve I I1. Thespring 34 is contained within a housing formed by the plate I I3, andthe outer end of the spring is anchored to a pin II3 carried by the gearH5. The pin Ill passes through'an opening I23 in a gear I2I looselymounted on the shaft Ill and the inner end'of the spring is secured tothe hub I22 of the gear I2I, by a pin I23. Gear I2I meshes with a pinionI24 carried by a shaft I25, and a second-gear I25 on the shaft I25engages with a gear I21 fixed tothe sleeve I33, towhlch-thedrumunsecured The geartrain, including gears I2I, I24, I23 and I21,is normally locked against movement by the Geneva locking disk I03 andthe gear I I is continuously rotated at a reduced rate, from the shaft51, thus applying. tension to the spring 54 during the idle intervals ofthe drum 23 The load'on the motor for operating this drum,'is thereforeuniformly distributed in point of time. 'At the end of each minuteinterval when the drum llisunlocked through the geneva, the spring 54,acting. through the gears I2I, I24, I25 and I21,,rotates the drum 23one-third of a revolution, corresponding to two of the slots of the.Geneva cross. I05.

Theshaft-I". is geared to rotate one-third of a revolution for each tenminute period, and serves to drive the tens-of-minutes drum 21 through aspiral or storage spring I33 contained within a housing formed in one.side of a flange disk I3I, the other side or which houses an cecentric"I32 keyed-to the shaft 3. The inner end of the spring I35 is pinned tothe sleeve M1, which rotates with the shaft'll3, and the outer endof thespring issecured to a pin I33 mounted. in the'webofthe disk I3I; L'stoparm I34;- zreciprocate'd-bythe eccentric, extends outwardly through arecess I35 in the left flange of the disk I" and iiesfioverthe periphery.of-jthe-circular;

shoulders I31. The

plate I33 having three'stop plate I33 is securedtoplate Ill by suitablescrews I35. The driving member I33 of an interlocking clutch tothe'springholuing. means of screws I33 and driven: cl member- I40 isnormally held in t with the driving member by a compressionspring I4I'disposed betweenthe member-3143 and the central disk I42 21.1'hedrum21isare formed adjacent the end of the shaft' III by" driven from the memberI40 by series of three pins I43, extending through apertures I44 in thedisk. A plate I45, loosely mounted upon a sleeve I45, is secured to theouter ends of'the pins I43 and has an annular recess I41 into whicha'yoke I45 extends and which serves, through the knurled rod I45, toenable the clutch members I35 and, I40 to be disengaged, for the purposeof setting the hour and tens-of-m-inutes drums, as will appear morefully hereinafter.

The tens=ofnninutes drum 21 is normally held against rotation by thestop arm I34, engaging one of the shoulders I31, during which time theenergy for subsequently rotating the drum 21, is being stored in thespring I30. At the end of each third of a revolution of the shaft N6,the stop arm I34 is released, permitting the drum to be advanced by thespring I30 to move a new figure into the tens-of-minutes position.

The hour drum 25 is operated and timed by the movement of thetens-of-minutes drum 21. For this purpose the hub I50 of the drum 21 issecured to the sleeve I45, which in turn carries a gear I5I, meshingwith a gear I52, mounted on a shaft I53 journaled in the bearings I54,in the main casting. The driving wheel I55, of a geneva, is secured tothe opposite end of the. shaft I53 and is provided with two driving pinsI55,

arranged to engage in the slots of a six-armed Maltese cross member I51, secured to a sleeve I58, loosely mounted upon a tubular shaft I53.The sleeve I50 is secured to the hub member I50 (Figure 4) of the hoursdrum 25. The construction of the Geneva wheels I55 and I5! is the sameas that of wheels I53 and I05, and the arrangement of the pins I55,relative to the cross membet, is such that the two pins are broughtsuclockingrim I".

It will be noted that the spring I30 serves to actuate both thetenswf-minutes drum and the hours drum. This requires that the tensionof the spring be greater than that required to operate thetens-of-minutes drum alone. However,

. this drum is operated at intervals of ten minutes only and for theparticular. purpose for which the present embodiment was designed, theslight noise incident to such operation is not found objectionable.

3 11 for any reason it is necessary to reset the clock. this may beconveniently accomplished by rotating the knurled wheel 53 to advancetheentire clock mechanism at a rate greater thanthe normalrate ofoperation of the clock provided by the motor 41. Howev if it isnecessary to advance the hour and tens-of-minutes belts, this may bedone more conveniently by disengaging the clutch members I33 and I bymeans of the knurled rod I43and manually advancing the tens-of-minutesbelt, and if sufllcient movement 'is applied thereto, thereby advancingthe'hours belt, into proper position. The clutch members I38 and I40 areprovided with three interlocking segments corresponding to each third ofa revolution of the drum 21, thus insuring that the proper relation ismaintained between'the belt 39 and the operating mechanism for thetens-ofminutes drum.

It is evident, of course, that variations in the details of constructionmay be devised without departing from the invention, and I do not desireto be limited to the exact details shown and described but contemplateall modifications and variations in the mechanism included within theterms of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a time indicating device a figure carrier representing a definiteinterval of time, a motor, a drive shaft continuously operated by saidmotor, spring means for driving said carrier, means for continuouslyapplying power from said drive shaft to said spring means at a uniformrate to stress the same, means normally restraining said carrier againstmovement and an eccentric operated by said drive shaft in a plurality ofangular positions thereof for releasing said carrier for advancementintermittently by said spring at the end of each interval of timerepresented thereby.

2. In a time indicating device a plurality of figure carriersrepresenting different intervals of time, a motor, individual springsfor driving said carriers, means for continuously applying power fromsaid motor to each of said springs at a uniform rate to stress the same,means normally restraining the carriers against movement, and timingmeans for intermittently releasing for movement by its spring, a carriercorresponding to one interval of time and means controlled bypredetermined movement of said latter carrier for releasing for movementby its spring, a carrier corresponding to a longer interval of time.

3. In a time indicating device a plurality of figure carriersrepresenting different intervals of time, a motor, individual springsfor driving said carriers, means for continuously applying power fromsaid motor to each of said springs at a uniform rate, to stress thesame, means normally restraining the carriers against movement, aneccentric operated by said motor for intermittently releasing formovement, by its spring, the carrier corresponding to one interval oftime, and an intermittent movement controlled by predetermined movementof said latter carrier for releasing for movement, by its spring, acarrier corresponding to a longer interval of time.

4. A time indicating device comprising a source of power, a figurecarrier representing a predetermined time interval, a second figurecarrier representing a longer time interval, common driving means forsaid figure carriers, a detachable connection between said secondcarrier and driving means, whereby the second carrier may be operated bysaid driving means or moved independently thereof, and a variableconnection be tween said source of power and said driving means, wherebyall of said carriers may be moved independently of said source of power.

5. A time indicating device comprising a source of power, a group offigure carriers representing predetermined time intervals, a secondgroup of figure carriers repesenting longer time intervals, drivingmeans for said figure carriers, a clutch mechanism operativelyconnecting said second group of carriers with said driving means,whereby the second group of carriers may be operated .whereby both ofsaid by the driving means or released for independent movement, and apawl and ratchet connection between said source of power and drivingmeans, groups of carriers may be moved independently of said source ofpower.

6. Intermittent driving mechanism for a time indicating devicecomprising a shaft rotatable at a uniform speed, a driven member,resilient means connecting said shaft and driven member, means normallyholding said driven member stationary, an eccentric driven by saidshaftand acting in a plurality of pre-determined angular positions of saidshaft, to release said driven member and permit it to move apre-determined distance under the force of said resilient means.

7. Intermittent driving mechanism for a time indicating devicecomprising a shaft rotatable at a uniform speed, a figure carrier, meansnormally holding the carrier stationary, means for absorbing power fromsaid shaft while said carrier is stationary, means acting inpre-detennined angular positions of said shaft for releasing the carrierfor pre-determined movement by the power absorbing means, a secondcarrier, means normally holding said second carrier stationary, separatemeans for absorbing power from said shaft to actuate said second carrierand means controlled by the movement of said first carrier for releasingsaid second carrier for movement.

8. Intermittent driving mechanism for a time indicating devicecomprising a shaft rotatable at a uniform speed, a figure carrier, meanstending to rotate said carrier, means normally holding the carrierstationary, means acting in predetermined angular positions of saidshaft for releasing the carrier for pre-determined movement, a secondcarrier, means normally holding said second carrier stationary, meansfor absorbing power at a uniform rate from said shaft to actuate saidsecond carrier and means controlled by the movement of said firstcarrier for releasing said second carrier for movement by said powerabsorbing means.

9. A time indicating device comprising individual figure carriersrepresenting hours, tensof-minutes, minutes and fractions-of-minutes,means-normally holding said carriers stationary, driving means for saidcarriers, timing means actuated by said driving means for releasing saidtens-of-minutes and fractions-of-minutes carriers at pre-determinedintervals for movement by said driving means and means actuated bypre-determined movement of said tens-of-minutes and fractions-of-minutescarriers, respectively, for releasing said hours and minutes carriers,for movement by said driving means.

10. A time indicating device comprising a plueach of said belts, anidler drum, a separate driving spring for intermittently actuating eachof means for intermittently releasing a, drum representative of a shorttime interval and means controlled by movement of said last drum forreleasing a drum representative of a longer time interval.

GEORGE W. JANSON.

